Sniper Rifle Rant

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Eric F

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Ok I can not take it any more:fire: I saw on the news tonight "sniper rifle seized in drug raid" then showed an sks with a red dot on a scout mount:barf:. The media is not the only one to blame either. Some folks right here on THR and other places will call just about most scoped rifles a SNIPER RIFLE:banghead: Well oh really does that make my winchester .22lr a sniper rifle too it has a scope? Come on give me a break here. The words Sniper and Rifle only go together if it belongs to or is being used by a Sniper so stop all of this Want-a-be nonsense:cuss:. I for years have had a Rem 700 Sendero in 7mm mag with a nice scope and a bipod a lot of guys would call it a sniper rifle but not I. I call it a Bean field Rifle OR BFR for short because that is where I use it during hunting season.
 
But it is so tactical to refer to your tactical sniper rifle as a tactical sniper rifle because it is so tactical when you do something tactical with your tactical sniper rifle. Technically a .22 can be a sniper rifle if used for sniping. Oswald used an old Carcano, Simo used an open sight Mosin, the beltway snipers used an AR-15, and Hathcock used a M40. Doesn't really matter on the weapon.
 
I couldnt agree moore but what made them sniper rifles? The sniper.......not some body slaping a big optic on a gun.
 
The only difference between sniper rifle, hunting rifle and precision rifle is what appears in the objective lens. But if you expect the media (or general public) to ever get that one right, you'll die waiting.
 
I agree that the media is using the term to sensationalize the news, but if I got a guy in a window taking shots at my squad with a beat up old .22 i'm still calling it sniper fire. What I feel would be more responsible would be calling rifles used in the actual act of sniping sniper rifles.
 
i agree with you brother the words tactical, and sniper rifle are used way to much, it does get old. maybe we should try stealthy long range precision rifle instead.
 
Good point percision, target, long range but only if it is a long range cartridge gun
 
I dislike the whole "uber deadly tactical" language out there, but I believe that a "sniper" or "sniper rifle" is anything used to shoot something at whatever distance while remaining in cover/undiscovered.
 
I agree that the media is using the term to sensationalize the news, but if I got a guy in a window taking shots at my squad with a beat up old .22 i'm still calling it sniper fire. What I feel would be more responsible would be calling rifles used in the actual act of sniping sniper rifles.
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Yes, but that would be the sniper making it a sniper rifle, not the rifle itself. His actions by taking aimed fire at officers from afar is the sniper action, not the weapon he uses.
 
I dislike the whole "uber deadly tactical" language out there, but I believe that a "sniper" or "sniper rifle" is anything used to shoot something at whatever distance while remaining in cover/undiscovered.
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Change "shoot something" to "shoot someone" and you'd be correct. Which is exactly why the use of the term "sniper rifle" annoys the hell out of me.

Precision rifle people. Precision rifle.
 
I'd be willing to argue that in order to be a "Sniper Rifle" it needs to be a rifle purpose built for use by a miliary or police sniper organization.
Sure, a sniper can make do with whatever comes to hand, but if I hand him or her my Red Ryder BB gun, it dosen't become a Sniper BB gun, no matter how amazing the feats of marksmanship the sniper pulls off with it are.
The "sniper rifle" is an item with a fairly well understood definition, and is not interchangeable with many rifles which would correctly be categorized as some combination of "precision", "long range" or "target".
 
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The popular media commonly makes mistakes like this. I use the term "mistake" loosely.

You don't have to watch the news, you know.
 
The reason they're called "sniper" rifles isn't because of any inherent characteristics of the weapon involved. They call it a "sniper" rifle because it's a dramatic, negative label that can be used to villify anything that they can't slap the label "assault weapon" on. It ain't about gun control, it's about control.
 
The media is on the ban wagon. Sensationalism is a means of increasing, attracting or retaining one's audience and the advertising dollars that come with them. Shut off the TV and read the paper only if its for free.
 
I've seen 2 recent uses of the term "sniper rifle" applied to common hunting rifles (Win 70 & Rem 700) in popular TV shows. Part of the divide and conquer tactics of the anits.
 
The media is on the ban wagon. Sensationalism is a means of increasing, attracting or retaining one's audience and the advertising dollars that come with them. Shut off the TV and read the paper only if its for free.
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Yep, every rifle with a scope is a "sniper," every semi-automatic is an, "assault," every capsized boat is in, "shark infested waters."
It is, and is not, ignorance. They are ignorant of the truth and they just don't care to learn the truth because it would not change the way they report it anyway.
 
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